Récupérer is not just a near-cognate of “recuperate” in English. This versatile verb has a wide range of meanings: “to collect," "to pick up," to recover,” and much more. Let's explore how récupérer translates in different situations through Yabla videos.
The closest translation to English of récupérer is “recuperate.” In the sense of physical recovery, récupérer is used on its own and is intransitive just like in English:
Elle a pris une journée de congé pour récupérer.
She took a day off to recuperate.
Since the verb “recuperate” is a lot less common in English, récupérer is more likely to translate as “to recover." In the example below, Joanna wants to récupérer musculairement (her muscles to recover):
Alors pour mieux récupérer, pour faciliter la récupération... -Oui. on va faire quelques étirements, quelques assouplissements qui vont te permettre de récupérer musculairement.
So to recover better, to facilitate the recovery... -Yes. we're going to do some stretches, some limbering-up exercises that are going to allow your muscles to recover.
Captions 5-7, Joanna La course à pied: Récupération
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But récupérer does not only mean “to recover physically.” Récupérer can also be a transitive verb, in which case it means “to recover” an object. Depending on what type of object is being recovered, you will notice that the translation will vary. In this video, the speaker talks about récupérer des œufs de poisson (recovering fish eggs):
Les œufs des poissons sont récupérés, sont mis à part.
The fish eggs are, uh recovered, are set apart.
Captions 9-10, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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Instead of récupérer des œufs de poisson (recovering fish eggs), the cook in this next video récupère la pulpe des pamplemousses (collects grapefruit pulp). This time, récupérer means “to collect”:
Puis elle récupère la pulpe des pamplemousses qu'elle ajoute dessus
Then she collects the pulp from the grapefruits, which she adds on top
Caption 80, KTOTV Recettes traditionnelles de Noël - Part 1
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Moving on from food, we can also récupérer objects like un trousseau de clés:
Alerté par un message de Mathieu, son complice récupère le trousseau afin d'en faire un double.
Alerted by a message from Mathieu, his accomplice retrieves the set of keys in order to make a duplicate of them.
Captions 65-67, Le Jour où tout a basculé Je me suis fait voler ma musique - Part 4
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In another video, a fan is told to go récupérer des photos at an actress’s home. This time the verb translates as “pick up”:
Euh... si tu veux, tu peux passer à la maison les récupérer.
Uh... if you want, you can drop by my house to pick them up.
Caption 73, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai piégé mon fan - Part 4
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In a political context, we have the phrase récupérer des voix (to pick up votes):
C'est... je crois pour récupérer les voix de l'extrême droite et... -Oui.
It's... I think to pick up votes from the far right and... -Yes.
Caption 23, Sophie et Patrice Le port de l'abaya à l'école
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And in a legal context, officials might need to récupérer des témoignages (gather testimonies):
Une fois que les policiers ont récupéré les témoignages de ces messieurs, ils ont estimé que Madame Berdil était coupable.
Once the police gathered these gentlemen's testimonies, they considered Ms. Berdil guilty.
Captions 66-67, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 5
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However, when referring to objects that would otherwise be discarded, récupérer can have a different meaning, “to salvage." In the video below, the artist récupère de la tapisserie (salvages tapestries) for his creations:
Donc c'est de la tapisserie qu'il récupère sur lequel [sic: laquelle] il peint et sur certaines même il refait des empiècements en tissu...
So it's tapestry that he salvages on which he paints and on some he even remakes fabric inserts...
Captions 36-39, Le saviez-vous? L'art figuratif de Lucien Murat
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You can also récupérer animals instead of objects, though you wouldn't "salvage animals" in English. Rather, you'd "rescue" them:
Depuis deux mille huit, une équipe de bénévoles qui s'occupent de récupérer et de soigner les animaux sauvages qui ont été blessés.
Since two thousand eight, [it's] a team of volunteers who are concerned with rescuing and taking care of wild animals that have been injured.
Captions 11-14, Le Monde Sauver les animaux sauvages ? C'est la mission de cette clinique - Part 1
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Sometimes récupérer is not so much an intentional act. In some circumstances, it just means that something ends up in your possession, like the parents in this video, who become the proud owners of a piano:
Je suis né à Paris en France et j'ai commencé à faire du piano vers l'âge de huit ans, un petit peu par hasard, puisque j'ai récupéré, euh... Mes parents ont récupéré un piano...
I was born in Paris, France, and I started to play the piano at around eight years of age, kind of by accident, because I, came into possession of... My parents came into possession of a piano...
Captions 3-4, Alex Terrier Le musicien et son jazz
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Indeed, some of the things we récupère, or end up with, are outside of our control. As Lionel points out in his video, we don’t always récupère (inherit) the same characteristics as our siblings:
Moi, mes origines, euh... même si j'ai appris récemment que face à nos parents, on ne récupère pas la même chose avec nos frères et sœurs...
Me, my origins, uh... even though I recently learned that vis-à-vis our parents, we don't get [inherit] the same thing as our brothers and sisters...
Captions 39-41, Sara et Lionel Le bronzage
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On the other hand, we often do want to récupérer or regain what used to belong to us. In the example below, the city of Soissons récupéra l'abbaye (got the abbey back) after a long occupation during the French Revolution:
Ce n'est qu'en mille neuf cent soixante-dix que la ville de Soissons récupéra l'abbaye.
It's only in nineteen seventy that the town of Soissons got the abbey back.
Captions 27-28, Voyage en France Soissons - Part 4
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That said, though récupérer can mean “to get something back," it can also mean the complete opposite! Sometimes, the idea “of picking up” or “retrieving” is completely lost, and in familiar language, récupérer simply means “to find”:
Il a récupéré l'adresse du bureau de la jeune femme.
He found the young woman's office address.
Caption 4, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes parents se préparent à la fin du monde - Part 5
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Récupérer has yet another meaning that may surprise you. It can mean “to make up for something," like loss of sleep for Sophie, who hopes to make up for it tomorrow:
Non, non, non. Je me dis que je récupérerai le lendemain...
No, no, no. I tell myself that I'll make it up the next day...
Caption 19, Sophie et Patrice Je n'ai pas beaucoup dormi
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As you can see, récupérer has a wide range of meanings best determined by context. The good news is that you can use this handy verb for just about any situation, as our many Yabla examples will attest. We hope you have récupéré a lot of interesting ideas!
As the saying goes, French is the language of love. So, let’s take this opportunity to delve into peoples’ hearts and minds and discuss expressions featuring the theme of love, ever so present in conversations, literature, and songs.
Grand Corps Malade sings about le grand amour (true love) in his song "Les Voyages en Train":
Le grand amour change forcément ton comportement
True love inevitably changes your behavior
Caption 13, Grand Corps Malade Les Voyages en train
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The masculine noun amour also exists in the plural form, as in the expression la saison des amours, which means "the season of love" when referring to humans:
Ah oui, oui, oui, c'est la saison des amours là.
Ah yes, yes, yes, it's the season of love now.
Caption 44, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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And "the mating season" when referring to animals:
Et là, c'est la saison des amours là?
And now, it's the mating season now?
Caption 43, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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The term conjoint (mate) applies to both the animal and the human kingdom:
Elles trouvent le temps long parce que le conjoint, il tarde à venir là.
They feel that time is moving slowly because their mate is taking his time to arrive now.
Caption 45, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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You'll often come across conjoint (partner/spouse) when filling out an administrative form:
L'utilisation du nom du conjoint nécessite certaines démarches.
Adopting a partner’s name requires certain steps.
Alternatively, you will also come across the word époux/épouse (spouse) which works in the same way as "spouse" in English—as a slightly more formal alternative to le mari (husband) and la femme (wife):
Voilà. Je désire prendre votre fille pour épouse.
Here's the deal. I want to take your daughter as my wife.
Caption 19, Il était une fois: l’Homme 6. Le siècle de Périclès - Part 3
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Vous acceptâtes de me prendre pour époux
You accepted to take me for a husband
Captions 26-27, Oldelaf interprète "Bérénice"
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Speaking of époux, young girls in fairy tales often dream of épouser (marrying) le Prince Charmant (Prince Charming):
Seule dans sa chambre elle rêve encore au Prince Charmant
Alone in her room she still dreams of Prince Charming
Caption 8, Wallen Donna
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These days, people might look for their Prince Charming on un site de rencontre (a dating site):
Je m'inscris sur un site de rencontre pour retraités.
I'm subscribing to a dating site for retirees.
Caption 12, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes grands-parents sont infidèles - Part 1
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Of course, faire une rencontre (meeting someone) or rencontrer l’amour (finding love) can happen in any setting, even unusual ones, as Nico can attest in this video:
Nico rencontre l'amour à un feu rouge.
Nico finds love at a red light.
Caption 34, Extr@ Ep. 5 - Une étoile est née - Part 8
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With a little luck, Nico may have found une âme sœur (a soulmate):
Petites fées du cœur accueillent les âmes sœurs
Little love fairies welcome the soulmates
Captions 25-26, Melissa Mars Music Videos Army of Love
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In any case, Nico and his neighbors Sacha and Annie have a complicated love life. They are all amoureux (in love), but with the wrong people!
Elles ont un voisin, Nico, qui est amoureux de Sacha, et Annie est amoureuse de Nico.
They have a neighbor, Nico, who is in love with Sacha, and Annie is in love with Nico.
Captions 3-5, Extr@ Ep. 1 - L'arrivée de Sam - Part 1
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Nico wants Sacha to be sa petite amie (his girlfriend), while Annie wants Nico to be son petit ami (her boyfriend). They could simplify their lives by being amis (just friends), but that's not how love works! The adjective petit (little) is just an endearing term of affection that bears no relation to size at all. It simply implies a more exclusive relationship:
Ça va être ta petite amie qui doit être jalouse.
It's your girlfriend who must be jealous.
Caption 20, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai piégé mon fan - Part 4
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Instead of using the term petit ami/petite amie, they could have said une petite copine (a girlfriend) or un petit copain (a boyfriend).
Traditionally, the next step is to progress from petits amis to mari et femme (husband and wife), and perhaps to sing together, like the couple in the video below:
Tout comme sa femme, le mari chante bien.
Just like his wife, the husband sings well.
Caption 56, Le saviez-vous? "Non plus", forme négative de "aussi" - Part 1
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But before jumping into marriage, the pair may first se fiancer (become engaged). Hence the term un fiancé/une fiancée, which English borrowed from French:
Comme par exemple... ta fiancée? T'en as une? C'est ça?
Like, for example... your fiancée? You have one? Is that right?
Caption 46, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon père - Part 4
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Fiancés might celebrate their fiançailles (engagement) with an engagement party, though perhaps not as grandiosely as Anne of Austria and Louis the Thirteenth, who had the famous Place des Vosges in Paris built for the occasion:
...à l'occasion des fiançailles de Louis Treize et d'Anne d'Autriche.
...on the occasion of the engagement of Louis the Thirteenth and Anne of Austria.
Caption 16, De nouvelles découvertes avec Marion La place des Vosges
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Les fiançailles usually lead to another celebration, the wedding (le mariage or la noce):
...à l'occasion de son mariage entre mille huit cent quatre-vingt-douze et mille neuf cent deux.
on the occasion of his wedding, between eighteen ninety-two and nineteen hundred two.
Caption 36, Le Mans TV Mon Village - Malicorne - Part 5
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La noce se fera en automne.
The wedding will take place in the fall.
Two things worth noting about the word un mariage (marriage). It’s spelled with only one r, and it can mean either “wedding” (the ceremony) or “marriage" (the relationship). La noce, however, only means "wedding."
While marriage is usually a union based on love, in some cases, a marriage might be un mariage blanc, which literally means “white/blank marriage,” as Patricia explains in her video:
Un mariage blanc, c'est un mariage arrangé, ou pas consommé.
A white marriage is an arranged marriage, or not consummated.
Captions 56-57, Le saviez-vous? La couleur blanche et ses expressions - Part 2
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Usually though, a marriage is a happy occasion on which la mariée (the bride) and le mari (the groom) exchange vows:
La mariée et le marié sont aussi au rendez-vous
The bride and the groom are also at the rendez-vous
Caption 16, Amadou et Mariam Beaux dimanches
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Many newlyweds (nouveaux mariés) go on une lune de miel (honeymoon):
Celle-là, c'était l'année de notre rencontre. Et notre lune de miel.
That one was the year we met. And our honeymoon.
Captions 35-36, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon passé - Part 3
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Of course, le mariage is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some people may decide to vivre en couple (to live together as a couple) instead. The word couple can refer to the number of people in the relationship, as in English, or to the relationship itself:
Notre couple allait mal.
Our relationship was going badly.
Caption 57, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon passé - Part 8
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Finally, those who remain unattached are called célibataires (single), like the lady mentioned in this video:
Et elle est toujours célibataire.
And she's still single.
Caption 90, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon passé - Part 5
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On November 25th, la Sainte-Catherine (Saint Catherine’s Day), single, unmarried young girls celebrate their catherinette by saying a special prayer for a suitor, before they reach the age of twenty-five.
As much as le grand amour (true love) may seem like the perfect recipe for happiness, one cannot vivre d’amour et d’eau fraiche (live on love alone). On the other hand, as the Beatles' song goes, all you need is love!
While discussing pigeons in Paris with his friend Lea, Lionel brings up an amusing French idiom referencing those ubiquitous city birds:
Alors se faire pigeonner en français,
So "se faire pigeonner" [to be taken for a ride] in French
c'est vraiment se faire arnaquer,
is really to get ripped off,
se faire avoir par une personne
to be had by a person
qui vous a soutiré de l'argent.
who has extracted money from you.
Captions 54-58, Lea & Lionel L - Le parc de Bercy
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Se faire pigeonner literally means "to be taken for a pigeon." In English too, "a pigeon" can refer to someone who's gullible or easily swindled. Pigeons get a bad rap in both languages!
Let's take a look at some more animal expressions and idioms used in Yabla videos. Here's another bird-related one:
Oui. J'avoue être un peu poule mouillée.
Yes. I admit to being a bit of a wet hen [a wimp].
Caption 23, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Notre appartement est hanté
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Calling someone poule mouillée is equivalent to calling them "chicken." A slightly less pejorative poultry-inspired moniker is un canard:
Qu'ils me disent que je m'affiche,
That they'll say that I am showing off,
qu'ils me traitent de canard
that they'll call me a duck [a slave to love]
Captions 6-7, Grand Corps Malade - Comme une évidence
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Un canard is a person who's so lovestruck they'll do whatever their partner desires. Believe it or not, it's also a slang term for "newspaper." There's even a famous French newspaper called Le Canard enchaîné (The Chained Duck), which Lionel discusses in a few other videos.
Don't confuse canard with cafard, the word for "cockroach." When used metaphorically, cafard means "depression" or "the blues":
Mon cafard me lâche moins souvent qu'autrefois...
My blues don't let me go as much as before...
Caption 8, Debout Sur Le Zinc - Les mots d'amour
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The expression avoir le cafard means "to be depressed," or literally, "to have the cockroach." And there's the adjective cafardeux/cafardeuse, which can mean either "depressing" or "depressed." Encountering a cockroach in your home can certainly be depressing, to say the least!
Though dogs are as beloved in France as they are in other countries, the word chien (dog) typically means "bad" or "nasty" when used as an adjective:
Fais demain quand le présent est chien
Make tomorrow when the present is bad
Caption 3, Corneille - Comme un fils
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You'll find chien in a couple of idioms involving bad weather, such as un temps de chien (nasty weather) and un coup de chien (a storm):
On va avoir un coup de chien, regarde!
We're going to have a dog's blow [stormy weather], look!
Caption 55, Il était une fois: les Explorateurs - 10. Amerigo Vespucci
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You can also say un temps de cochon (pig weather) instead of un temps de chien:
Et aujourd'hui on a pas un temps de cochon par contre.
And today we don't have pig weather [rotten weather] however.
Caption 22, Lionel - La Cathédrale de Toul
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In American English, "pigs" is a slang term for "cops." But the French call them vaches (cows):
Mort aux vaches, mort aux cons!
Death to the cows ["pigs," i.e., cops], death to the jerks!
Caption 5, Patrice Maktav - La Rue
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Finally, they don't celebrate April Fools' Day in France, but rather "April Fish":
En tout cas j'espère que ce n'est pas un poisson d'avril.
In any event, I hope that it's not an April fish [April fool].
Caption 21, Lionel - à Lindre-Basse
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You can find out more about the poisson d'avril tradition here. And be sure to check out Manon and Clémentine's video Mots et animaux to learn some more expressions featuring cats, dogs, and wolves.
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